Re: backporch of looping (was: forefront)

[Kim Flint <kflint@chromatic.com>]

Thanks for the thoughts David! appreciated, as always. No time for serious
discussion at the moment, but one point to clarify:

At 02:57 PM 2/5/98 EST, Texture444@aol.com wrote:
> 3)    a) not barring that heady thrust for "the new", i think that a 
>minor design
> error can be made when discarding the old (loop-)farts' desires to 
>incorporate
> 20-year-old features into a new instrument; firstly, because its likely 
>that
> those features may have some actual *musical* value;
> secondly, because those self-same features can certainly afford to be
> "modernised"/expanded upon; and
> thirdly, given the sometimes-slow (but, incessant) proclivity towards 
>creative
> expansion in human nature, its fair to assume that said features -as 
>they are-
> have *not yet been mined to their fullest depth*.

Please don't get me wrong. We have no plans to give up on "old" ideas,
didn't mean to imply any such thing. In fact, for many, these "old" ideas
are brand spankin' new, and we look forward to introducing them to new
legions. The reason old ideas hang around is that they were good ideas, no
point in tossing them.

And we certainly recognize the potential for expanding these ideas and have
many intentions to do so. Just managing to integrate them with other ideas
we already have in place will force this, and there will be plenty of
unfathomable opportunities in the future along those lines.

What I do mean to say is, from the technical innovation and developer's
standpoint, a lot of people who come from the looping "old skool" are quite
complacent in what they do, and are not the ones feeding us with new
possibilities for our technical developments. They just want something that
works like another thing did in the past. Not a judgement of that, just 
what
we hear all the time. I sort of figure that once the variable delay time
thing comes to pass, they will be gleefully happy and not be tugging on our
pants leg anymore. It's in all the new music where the new challenges for
innovation come from. People bursting with creative expansion need many new
things to get them to new places. Huge, exciting challenges and
possibilities lie there, and that's what's likely to continue to push us. 

I'd like to encourage the "grandpas" as you say, to remain open to the new
ideas, and resist the easy urge to think they already know it all, that the
new contains no value. In other words, resist adopting your parent's "when 
I
was a lad we knew how to do it right, not like these kids today" mantra.  
It
is entirely possible, actually probable, that some new loop concept 
required
by the cutting edge illbient remix artist will also be the greatest thing
since tape-loops to our lovably curmudgeonly "droney guitar crowd." And 
it's
entirely possible that said new idea will inspire our grandpas in a new 
way,
and they'll be back tuggin' our trousers again. 

Keep the mind open, keep the blinders off, and stay (de)tuned...

kim
________________________________________________________
Kim Flint                      408-752-9284
Mpact System Engineering       kflint@chromatic.com
Chromatic Research             http://www.chromatic.com